[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT ALL AMERICANS OBSERVE THE 50TH 
  ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN VERSUS BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH A COMMITMENT TO 
             CONTINUING AND BUILDING ON THE LEGACY OF BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 13, 2004

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the anniversary 
of one of the most important Supreme Court decisions handed down in our 
nation's history. On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court ended 
federally sanctioned segregation in the case Brown v. Board of 
Education by unanimously ruling that ``separate but equal'' was 
unconstitutional. This landmark case, which overturned Plessy v. 
Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court Case in which the doctrine of 
``separate but equal'' was declared constitutional, provided the legal 
foundation for the civil rights movement in this country.
  In his decision which challenged the conscience of the nation, Chief 
Justice Earl Warren argued:

       To separate [black children] from others of similar age and 
     qualifications solely because of their race generates a 
     feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community 
     that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever 
     to be undone . . . We conclude that in the field of public 
     education the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' has no 
     place. Separate educational facilities are inherently 
     unequal.

  These powerful words began the slow process of integration and 
sparked the campaign for social justice in America.
  Fifty years later, we have come a long way in realizing the promise 
of Brown but still have much work to do. While Brown broke down the 
barriers of segregation, many of our schools remain separate and 
unequal. This has occurred primarily because minority students are 
concentrated in urban settings where schools continue to fall short of 
providing adequate education. While many whites are able to leave the 
inner city for the suburbs where they can receive a better education, 
minorities remain trapped in failing urban schools simply because their 
parents lack the financial resources to secure a better education for 
their children. As a result, minority students continue to lag behind 
in reading, math, writing, geography and science and have a much higher 
dropout rate than whites, according to a recent Department of Education 
report.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the groundbreaking case of Brown v. 
Board of Education, it is imperative that we continue to work to 
fulfill its promise to provide equal education for all Americans 
regardless of their race, religion, sex or socio-economic status. Fifty 
years ago, the Supreme Court laid out its vision for our nation's 
schools. It is now time for Congress to ensure that that vision becomes 
reality.
  In this year in which Congress will reauthorize the Higher Education 
Act, we as a body need to take bold steps to provide poor and minority 
students at the primary and secondary levels with adequate resources to 
ensure that the door to higher education is open to all. We must fully 
fund the No Child Left Behind Act, protect Head Start, provide adequate 
funding for after school programs and make college more affordable for 
everyone. Doing so will help fulfill the promise of Brown, a promise 
that we as a nation cannot afford to break.

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